


working woman

by WattStalf



Series: Problematic OTP [30]
Category: Watchmen - All Media Types
Genre: F/M, Kink Meme, Modern AU, Rating may go up, but not kinky, once again i am too nice to eddie, once again i let my OTP have too many nice things
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-20
Updated: 2016-06-22
Packaged: 2018-06-09 15:33:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 6,355
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6912997
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WattStalf/pseuds/WattStalf
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After her divorce, Eddie wants to help Sally get back on her feet, but there's more to his good intentions than just wanting to be there for Laurie, and Sally might just be a little more than grateful.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> A prompt on the kinkmeme requesting Sally trying to work a normal job after being a model and after getting divorced leaves her needing an income. The prompt mentions potential for Eddie helping her and them trying and failing to be "just friends", so of course I'm all over that. Because I totally needed more bad Watchmen AUs. Yep.

Sally Jupiter knew that there were some big changes that needed to be made to her life. She did not regret the end of her marriage to Larry; when he had filed for divorce, she had only been relieved to know that she had a way out at last. He had had the decency to wait until Laurie was born to leave her, but not that he was gone, she was without a way to care for her daughter.

She still had money left from her modeling career, but not much, and she had not gotten any jobs in a while, not even before she had found out she was pregnant. It was the feelings that cased, as well as how miserable her marriage had become, that had led her to going out drinking that night, and that was when she saw Eddie. And she had been just lonely enough to go with him that night, which had resulted in a pregnancy that made it impossible to cover up, because she and Larry had not been intimate in far too long. Their marriage had completely collapsed after that, leaving her alone and without a source of income.

Eddie was quick to offer his assistance when she called to let him know that she was getting a divorce and that Larry would no longer be around to make sure that he couldn't see Laurie anymore. She had only been him that he would be able to visit their daughter, but she had ended up confessing to more of her worries than she had planned.

“I make good money, Sal,” he said. “I know the job don't sound too glamorous, but I'm in management now. I could take care of you and Laurie, I really could. I mean, I got as much of a hand in that divorce as anyone.”

It was incredibly tempting, to give all of her worries into his hands, to let herself be dependent for a little bit longer, to have a chance at an easy life where her only job was to stay home with Laurie, but she couldn't do that. She didn't like to rely on anyone; the fact that she had become so dependent on Larry was a reminder of why she didn't, and even though Eddie had changed a lot since they were young, and for the better, she could not take him up on his offer.

“I appreciate it, Eddie, but I can't,” she replied. “I need to make it on my own. I held down a normal job before I got into modeling, I could handle it again if only I could find one.” Her attempts on that front had been less than fruitful so far, but she couldn't even say she was surprised about that. All of her relevant references were outdated, and nobody really believed that a retired model could actually do work.

“You could at least let me help you out with that,” he said after a moment of thinking. “I mean, I'm sure we've got some openings in the store somewhere, and if I put in a good word for ya...”

“I really can't let you do something like that. You'd just go easy on me, and I need to get this job on my own, and do it right.”

“No, no, ya wouldn't be workin' for me,” he replied. “I'd look for a job for ya in a different department, I wouldn't be the one hiring you or your manager, or anything like that. I'd just tell the other manager that I recommend you as a worker. I know ya wanna do this on your own, but it isn't really cheating if I just help you find the job.”

And he was right about that, she knew. If she kept looking on her own, she had no idea how long it would take, but with him helping her application move along a little quicker, she stood a better chance, and she needed to get something soon. She couldn't afford to pass this opportunity up based on her pride and so she said, “Okay, just let me know where I need to apply.”

“I'll do some diggin' and call ya back as soon as I know something!”

~X~

The next day, he called her back with information about a position she could apply for in the retail department of the store. He'd let them know that she was applying, and she was supposed to list him as one of her references, and after the application had been in the system for twenty four hours, he said that it would help if she called to follow up on it. It was strange to hear him sounding so professional, sounding nothing like the idea she had known when they were younger.

She had noticed a bit of that change during their brief fling, but now it was incredibly apparent. He really seemed to have his life together, and she was envious of that; she hoped that, in time, she could gain that level of stability on her own and be able to provide a stable life for Laurie.

When she called to follow up on her application, the manager of the department seemed happy to hear from her and seemed to think pretty highly of Eddie's opinion. They set up a time for the job interview, and she hung up feeling better about this than any other job she had applied for recently. Getting together an outfit for it was easy, and she arrived at the interview ready to impress her way into this job.

Within a few days, she got a phone call, and she was overjoyed to hear that she had been hired, and that she could come in any time to begin her orientation. It had only been a week since she had called Eddie, but already he had helped her turn her life around so much, and she really was surprised that he, of all people, had been able to help her out so much. He really had done a lot of growing up over the years, and she was grateful that he had done all of that for her.

Of course, she realized that there wasn't much reason for her to be surprised. He hadn't really done it for _her_ ; he had done it out of a sense of responsibility for Laurie, but that didn't make her admire him for it any less. The fact that he was doing what he could as the father of her child meant a lot to her, and she decided that she would have to do something to not only show him that she was grateful, but also give him some time with Laurie.

She decided that, once she got her first paycheck, she would take him out to celebrate. The three of them would get dinner together somewhere and he would get to spend time with Laurie, and they would get to talk about work or life or whatever it was people talked about at dinner. She was only just realizing that, between her career and her marriage, she hadn't had any real friends in a very long time, and she hoped that that was something that would be changing. And that was all Eddie was to her; she would only be taking him out as friends, she was only taking him out to show him her gratitude. She certainly wasn't ready to go out on any dates, and certainly not with him.

 


	2. Chapter 2

Orientation and training weren't much of a problem, and she got paid for them anyway, so Sally didn't mind those much at all. In fact, they left her optimistic for her new job, which didn't look to be hard at all, but on her first day on the actual floor, her confidence didn't last long.

Her job was supposed to be a simple one. All she had to do was keep the junior's apparel section straightened up, and deal with any questions from customers, and the training videos had made it seem like that wouldn't take much effort at all. What the training videos didn't say was that her immediate supervisor was a girl who looked like she was barely out of high school.

“How long have you worked in retail?” asked the girl. Her name tag read “Elise”, and it was engraved into the plastic. Sally's name was printed on a sticker attached to the name tag, and she supposed you didn't get a permanent one until they were sure you weren't going to quit on them or do something stupid and get fired.

“Well, this is my first job like this in years,” she started, but Elise waved a hand to cut her off.

“So, you basically have no experience, then. Great.” Huffing, she pointed to a rack of clothes- or, Sally supposed it _would_ have been a rack of clothes, if the hangers weren't all empty. There was a pile of shirts underneath it. “Just look at the sizes on them and find a hanger that matches, then make sure they're sorted by size. That should be easy enough for you.”

And it wasn't difficult, or challenging in any way, but it was tedious as hell, and with shoppers in the store, Sally would often find that she would bend down to pick something up, stand back up, and see that someone had already knocked something back to the floor or put something out of order.

Once upon a time, she got paid to strut around in clothes a lot more expensive and better looking than this, and now she was making her back sore trying to clean up after customers while someone much younger than her bossed her around and looked down on her. It was only her first day, and she already wanted out, but there was nowhere else for her to go. She couldn't get back into modeling at this point, and she had tried, and failed, to get so many other jobs.

Elise just kept watching her and seemed perpetually annoyed with everything that Sally did, and that was all before the customers started asking her questions. At first, she was nervous, because she thought there'd be questions she couldn't answer due to how new she was, but then she realized just how stupid and obvious all of the questions were.

“Where's your junior's department?” She had to resist the urge to point to the sign directly above their head that read “Junior's”.

“Do you all have a bathroom?” _No, of course not, this is actually the only superstore_ without _a bathroom, didn't they hear?_

“Do you work here?” She wondered if it were the name tag, or the fact that she was cleaning up after everyone, that gave it away.

She spent the entire day dealing with stupid questions and picking up the same mess over and over again, while Elise “supervised” and rolled her eyes and made snide comments, until finally, Sally checked her watch and saw that it was time for her to clock out and go home. Her first shift had only been six hours, but it had felt like a lot more than that.

Her back and her feet ached worse than they had in years- and she'd thought she'd grown immune to such pain after the hours spent at photo shoots- and she couldn't wait to fall into bed and sleep straight through until her next shift. Unfortunately, it was only three in the afternoon, and she had a baby at home waiting for her, and she'd have to wait until Laurie was down for a nap before she could attempt sleep for herself.

“Thank you for watching her today,” she mumbled, wishing she could at least pretend to be alive as she made it in the door. Nelson Gardner, an old friend of hers, had offered to babysit when he could, at least until she could find a reliable babysitter or Laurie was old enough for daycare.

“No problem,” he replied. “Laurie's a sweet baby. Only threw two tantrums, by my count. How was your first big day?”

Groaning, Sally shook her head. “Nelly, don't even get me started.”

He made a sympathetic noise. “Well, it doesn't have to be forever, you know. This is just to help you get settled until something better comes along.”

“If I survive that long,” she groaned.

“I can stay and look after Laurie for a little bit longer, if you want to relax,” he offered, and Sally was touched. He was going to make a great husband one of these days, if that sort-of-boyfriend of his would ever bite the bullet and commit. And it was such a tempting offer that she couldn't help but take it.

“Just long enough for me to take a bath,” she replied, before picking up her daughter and snuggling her for a moment. It was seeing Laurie again after the hard day, seeing how delighted her baby was when she walked in, that reminded her that it didn't matter how exhausting the job was; she had a reason for doing it. It was worth it, if it meant she could take care of her daughter.

~X~

After a relaxing bath, she sent Nelson home and sat back with Laurie snuggled against her chest. Her phone rang, and she picked it up, fighting back a yawn as she said, “Hello?”

“Hey, Sal. How was work today?” asked Eddie.

“Pretty easy,” she lied. She was sure that he wouldn't judge her for finding the first day a little bit daunting, but she still didn't want him to know just how much she had struggled. Really, she just didn't want him worrying about her or telling anyone in the company that they needed to go easier on her.

The more she thought about it, the more strange it felt that she _was_ having such a tough time. She'd done this sort of thing before, and being a model could sometimes be just as taxing on her, and it really hit her just how much she had changed over the years. She knew that something had made her soft along the way, but whether it was the fact that modeling was glamorous despite being hard, or the fact that she had been a housewife for a while, she vowed not to let it get in the way anymore.

The next day, she'd return to work and get everything done just like she was supposed to, and she would keep at that same job until she moved up or found something else, and she'd make enough money to support Laurie. She was independent now, and the knowledge of that gave her just the slightest burst of enthusiasm for returning to her job, though she was still exhausted, and was more than content to spend the rest of the evening holding Laurie and exchanging work stories with Eddie.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> it gettin fluffy


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> These fluffy AUs will be the death of me. My OTP doesn't deserve this nice treatment.

Each day that Sally drug herself out of bed for work went by a little bit better, until she began to get into the swing of things. Elise soon began to acknowledge that she knew what she was doing, and became a lot less hard on her over the course of the next two weeks. She learned to love her few days off, and when the first two weeks came to a close, she was pleased to see the size of her paycheck. This job didn't pay too badly, considering how simple it was.

And she would certainly be making enough to keep her and Laurie afloat, and she certainly had enough extra to take Eddie out to dinner, like she had been planning to. They had been talking on the phone, almost every other day at first, just so that he could make sure everything was still going well for her. She wasn't sure why he was so concerned even after she'd proven to adjust to her job, but she couldn't say she minded having someone interested in talking to her. Besides Nelson, she didn't really keep in touch with many people at all and she'd almost forgotten what having friends felt like.

Eventually, she wasn't really lying to him when she said that her work was easy, and Eddie seemed so damn proud of her for settling into the job so well. She felt pretty proud of herself for it as well, especially when she put her own check in the bank for the first time in years. When she got home from the bank, she called Eddie up to ask him to dinner.

At first, he tried to turn her down, saying, “You worked hard for that money. I'm not lettin' you spend it on me.” Then he tried to offer to take _her_ to dinner, but she was even more insistence that she would be the one to pay.

“Absolutely not,” she said. “The whole point of this is me thanking you for getting me this job, so I've got to be the one to pay.”

“It was nothing, ya don't owe me anything for it.”

“Now, Eddie, are you really going to tell me I can't take my friend out to dinner?” she asked. He was silent for a moment, and she knew before he even spoke that she had already won.

“Alright, alright,” he finally said, “but only because you make it so damn hard to argue. But you at least get to pick the place, alright?”

“No problem there. I'm going to be bringing Laurie along, if you think you can handle having a baby out to dinner with us. I thought you might want to see her.”

“Of course I do.” He sounded very pleased. “Yeah, that sounds great. Just let me know the time and the place.”

~X~

On the night of, Sally was surprised to arrive and see that Eddie was already waiting for her. He had never struck her as the early bird type, but he was surprising her a lot lately, so she decided she needed to keep an open mind in the future. Clearly, he had changed even more than she had given him credit for, something that she was learning again each day.

He grinned when he saw her, waving her over, and gave her a quick “hello” before turning his attention to their daughter. Laurie had always been a rather friendly baby, not being too picky with strangers, but this also wasn't the first time she had seen Eddie, and she wasn't shy with him at all. She'd never been so open with Larry, and Sally wondered if there were some way for the baby to know just who her real father was. Probably not, but it certainly was a convenient coincidence.

“Are you sure ya wanna pay for me?” he asked, as they walked in together. “I mean, I don't mind goin' stag, even, but I feel bad...”

“You're going to let me do this for you,” she said, “and that's final.”

“Hell, I never could say no to you,” he replied, and they laughed. They were brought to a table and given a high chair for Laurie, who looked around the busy restaurant with interest while Sally and Eddie fell into an easy conversation.

“Are the customers in your department half as ridiculous as mine?” she asked. “Really, I need to know.”

“Well, bein' the manager means I don't have to deal with a whole lot of customers, but the ones I do?” He smirked. “The absolute most ridiculous ones the store has to offer.”

“Oh, yeah, that must be rough. You can't just pawn them off on somebody else, can you?”

“Nope, gotta handle all the difficult customers as they come to me. Sure is lonely at the top.” He wore a noble expression before dissolving into laughter, and Laurie began to laugh with him, despite not knowing what exactly was so funny. Eddie turned to grin at her, poking her on the nose and causing her to erupt into another wave of giggles. Sally felt a tug somewhere in her stomach; watching the two of the bond like this gave her a strange, bittersweet feeling that she couldn't quite identify.

“We need to set up times for you to be able to see her more regularly,” she said. “I meant to talk to you about that a while ago, but things have just been so busy lately, it kept slipping my mind.”

“Nah, I get it,” he replied. “Wanna compare schedules an' stuff? Maybe if you're workin' and I'm not, I could watch her. I mean, unless you already got something else lined up.”

“No, no, I just have a friend of mine come over. I'm sure he wouldn't mind some time off, and I know Laurie would love to get to see you more.” Sally smiled at the little girl, who responded with a face splitting grin. “She's got your smile, that's for damn sure.”

“Yeah, well, 'sides that an' her hair, I think she got everything else from you,” replied Eddie. He gave her a grin that most definitely matched their daughter's and says, “She's gonna grow up to be a real heart breaker.”

“Guess it's a good thing she's got a dad like you to protect her then, huh?”

The rest of the night went by just as easily, and Sally found that she was really enjoying herself. She was enjoying getting to spend time with a friend, and she was enjoying seeing the way he and Laurie got along so well, even if it did make her feel just a little bit sad, in a weird way. Sally didn't know what that was all about, but she did what she could to ignore it.

When the check came, she stopped him before he could try to make another argument about why he should pay for her, and paid for their meals without another word. Eddie held up his hands in mock surrender and they laughed, but, then again, they had been doing a lot of laughing. She was much happier than she had been in a very long time, and the night left her in a good mood.

“Alright,” he said, when they were outside and about to go their separate ways. “Alright, ya got to pay for my dinner. Now it's my turn to take you out, okay?”

“You don't have to do that,” she said, but she was grinning at him, letting him know that she most certainly did not mind.

“Sure I do,” he said with an easy smirk that nearly stirred up something she hadn't felt in ages. “It's not just to pay you back for tonight. We gotta discuss things with Laurie in more detail, right?”

“Yeah, yeah, I'm sure that's all this is about.” If she didn't know better, she would have thought Eddie blushed at her words.

“I'll call you,” he said, before taking Laurie into his arms to give her a kiss goodbye, and she didn't want to let go of him when it was time to. It was all Sally could do to keep her from crying as he waved and went for his own car.

 


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Awwww yeah get some

The second time that she met up with Eddie for dinner went much like the first. He was delighted to see the both of them and Laurie wasn't shy with him, and they settled in to their table and told stories about work that had them both laughing. She was a bit more open about some of her mishaps, because they were more few and far between, and she was confident enough in her job that she didn't mind admitting to him that sometimes things went wrong, and she didn't think he would get worried about her when she was doing so well otherwise.

And she was doing well, getting better at her job every day. She knew all the processes well enough that she didn't have to think, and even if she found some of her customers infuriating, all of the regulars had come to like her and she had gotten several compliments on her service. It was a far cry from how things used to be, when boys would trip over themselves just to talk to her, but it was nice, and there was even talk of letting her train up enough so that when they got new employees, she could be the one to train them. Elise would still be the supervisor, but Sally had the advantage of being able to go around with new employees and work with them.

It didn't really count as moving up, since it wouldn't be a promotion and she wouldn't be getting any sort of raise for it, but it still made her feel good about herself and gave her hope that there would be a chance for her to move up in the future. Maybe she wouldn't have to look for another job and maybe this one would be able to sustain her for a very long time. If she made it into management, she and Eddie would see each other in meetings, and the thought was funny to her, for some reason.

But then, as the night went on, her attention became focused entirely on how the man across the table from her kept behaving. It had been bugging her since the beginning, something about his behavior that she couldn't quite pinpoint, and it was becoming more prevalent every time she spent time with him. He had changed a lot in the time they had known each other, yes, but this was something else, something different in the way he acted with her specifically.

It had been on her mind for a while, but she had been no closer to figuring it out, and then it hit her all at once, as they ate dinner. Really, it should have been obvious to her from the beginning, but she used the fact that she'd had so much on her mind as an excuse. Romance had been the last thing on her mind, and that had to have been why she hadn't noticed that Eddie had feelings for her. He had to care about her a great deal, she knew that, but she hadn't considered the possibility that he cared about her in that way.

They'd had their fling, sure, and she knew that he was attracted to her, but she had always thought it had just been a fling for the both of them. He'd just been having fun, hadn't he? Or had he had feelings for her this whole time, but had held back because he didn't think he had a real chance with her? It must have meant more to him than she knew, and even their dinners probably meant something to him.

What did this mean for them? Watching him with Laurie made her think that she couldn't have asked for a better father for her child, and she wanted him to be a part of the baby's life, but what about her own life? She really did wonder if there was potential for something more between them, if he really did have feelings for her. It would certainly make raising Laurie between the two of them easier, and he would definitely be a part of her life if that were the case.

But how did Sally feel about all of this? She hadn't allowed herself to think about her own romantic feelings for a very, very long time. Her modeling career had been so much more important to her, and her marriage had been one of convenience, and then there had been Laurie to think about. The brief time she had spent with Eddie when she had been married had been a rare instance of self-indulgence, but even then, she hadn't allowed herself to think about romantic potential.

“You sure clammed up over there,” said Eddie, looking a little concerned. “You feelin' alright?”

“Yeah,” she said. “Sorry, just got caught up thinking about something. Nothing major, though.”

“If you're sure,” he replied, and then changed the subject, ready to talk about their reason for meeting like this in the first place. She was able to forget about her new discovery as they discussed his visiting Laurie, and compared schedules and planned out when he would get to spend time with their daughter that week. But when it was time to say goodbye, she was reminded of her questions when she found herself sad to see him go.

~X~

Things only got worse for her from there. At work, she could hardly focus because she kept thinking about things, and though her job didn't require much focus, she still felt bad, being so distracted all the time. Really, it was a curse that her job _didn't_ take more focus, because it meant that she had a lot of time to let her mind wander, and she hadn't been able to get the situation with Eddie off of her mind since their dinner.

She was attracted to him, that much was obvious. Of course, she had to be to have slept with him in the past, but the attraction was still there, and it wasn't going anywhere any time soon. He was a handsome man, and she enjoyed spending time with him. Whenever he came to see Laurie, she found herself excited, and if that wasn't a sign, she didn't know what was.

She liked Eddie, and that was all there was to it. Even if she wasn't sure just how much she liked him, or even how much he liked her, she knew that there was a mutual attraction and that there were feelings a little bit stronger than what she had thought was there during their fling. She knew that she would have to do something about this, because, as much as it seemed like he wanted to, he wasn't making the first move. He probably thought that he would be taking things too far with her that soon after the divorce, or thought he'd missed his chance with her, or something like that.

If there was going to be something between them, and she was almost certain that she wanted there to be, then she would have to be the one to start it.

 


	5. Chapter 5

Sally hadn't wanted to take any favors from Eddie after the divorce because she had wanted to be the one to get her life settled, and she hesitated for a bit before deciding to make a move on him as a result. She knew that pursuing a relationship with him and taking favors from him were entirely different things, but she still wanted to know that she had everything together on her own before she brought anyone else into her life, even someone who had helped as much as Eddie had.

But things really were working out for her well, and the money she was bringing in was enough to support her and Laurie without any outside help. She had everything settled, as far as she knew, and she didn't want to delay things anymore, besides. As hesitant as she was to dive into another relationship, she did get lonely sometimes, and even if he hadn't dated in a while, what was stopping him from getting tired of pining for her and finding someone else? Who knew if he even _was_ pining for her, or if she had just made it up in her wishful thinking?  
It was time that she went in for the kill, and so she called him and told him that she'd like to have dinner together again. He agreed to it, insisting that he pay for this one, and she didn't turn him down on that, but she did not yet specify her intentions with the evening. She didn't think he would say no if she asked him on a date, but she still had her tricks, and if she was doing this, she was going to have fun with it.

She got Nelson to watch Laurie for the evening, and despite his prodding, she gave away no information on her night out, claiming that she didn't kiss and tell.

“Have you kissed him already, then?” he asked.

“A long time ago,” she replied with a wicked grin, “but that's all you're getting out of me tonight.”

“And tomorrow?”

“We'll see if I'm more forthcoming,” she said. “I have to leave, though. Don't make me late!”

Nelson looked ready to say more, perhaps asking her why her date wasn't picking her up, but he didn't, and she was out the door after giving Laurie a kiss goodbye. It was the first time she had gone out without her in a long time, and she almost felt bad leaving her behind for this. But she had to make some sort of distinction between this and all of the other times that they went to dinner together, and she was sure that, if things worked out, they would be spending plenty more time with Laurie in the future, and even if things didn't, she never left her daughter for long.

Stupidly enough, she felt herself grow nervous during her drive, and she had to remind herself that this was just Eddie. She had spent plenty of time with him, and only a year or so ago they had been sleeping together. This was different, but it wasn't anything she couldn't handle, and what was the worst that could happen? She was being so silly about everything, but she  _had_ been out of the game for a while.

He was already waiting for her when she arrived, and the way his face lit up when he saw her only served to reassure her that she was doing the right thing here. Then she watched his face shift into one of his confusion as he realized that she was there by herself, and when she got to him, he said, “Where's Laurie at?”

“She's at home with a babysitter,” she replied, as if it should have been obvious.

“Why?” He only seemed more confused by her explanation.

“Because,” she said, “you don't take a baby on a date, silly.”

“On a...” Eddie only looked confused for a moment more before he broke out into a wide grin. “Date, huh? And you sure you mean that?”

“What can I say? I got tired of waiting for you to ask me out on your own,” she replied with a shrug. “I thought I would make it easy for you.”

“Jeez, Sal, I just didn't...I didn't know if you'd wanna, ya know, do something like that,” he said, and this time, she was sure that he was blushing. “I mean, I know we had whatever we had before, but that wasn't...well, like this. And you just got divorced and I didn't think you'd want me houndin' you for a date when ya had so much going on. If I'd known ya _wanted_ me to take you out for real, I woulda done that a hell of a long time ago.”

“We're here now, aren't we? Come on, let's get inside.” She tugged at his hand, and he looked so pleased to be holding hands with her that you wouldn't know that they'd been fucking not that long ago. It was almost cute, and that wasn't a word she had ever thought she'd apply to Eddie, but it suddenly seemed fitting, at least where his behavior around her was concerned.

Once they were seated, this date didn't seem much different than their usual outings, except for the fact that Laurie wasn't there. They laughed about stupid things that had happened at work, talked about life in general, and Sally didn't mind that there wasn't much change between them. Really, they had practically been dating all along, and all they had needed was for one of them address the fact that that was what was happening. She was glad that she had finally ended the stalemate.

At the end of the night, Eddie helped her up and slung his arm around her shoulders as they walked out together. There was a moment of awkward silence outside of the restaurant before he finally went in for a kiss, and Sally threw her arms around his neck to hold him in until she was done with him. She had never been one to be bothered by doing something like this in public.

When they pulled apart, he was grinning again, and she sighed as she said, “I would invite you back to my house, or at the very least wait for you to invite me back to yours, but...I've got Laurie waiting for me.”

“Some other time?” he asked, looking so eager that she almost laughed. “I mean, just cos Laurie's there doesn't mean...I mean, she's gotta sleep some time, right?”

At that, she actually did laugh, and replied, “Of course, of course. Next time, I promise. I had a lot of fun, Eddie.”

“Me too, Sal,” he said. “Tell Laurie goodnight for me, okay?”

“Of course. Goodnight, Eddie,” said Sally before leaving. When she got home, she managed to dodge questions from Nelson quite evasively, and when she had him on his way, she went in to check on Laurie, who was fast asleep.

Standing over her crib, Sally was reminded of how far she had come since her daughter was born. Back then, she had been without a career and trapped in a miserable marriage, and the only thing she had allowed herself to have with Eddie had been a meaningless fling. Now, entirely thanks to her daughter, she was out of her marriage, and she had gotten her life together and gotten a job, and even allowed herself to get close enough to Eddie that they could let there be something between them. She was happier than she could remember being, and as she whispered goodnight to Laurie from both of her parents, she knew that things would only get better from here.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> toooooooooooo muuuuuuuuuuuuuuuch fluuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuff i'm sorry


End file.
